Neural Circuitry and Genetics of Aggression

Two flies engaged in an aggressive interaction; the fly on the right is raising itself to execute a lunge towards the fly on the left. See also Dankert et al. (2009).Credit: Credit: Eric Hoopfer

Like fear, anger is a highly conserved emotion. It is typically expressed as aggression, an innate social behavior with species-specific motor programs. We seek to understand the neural circuits that mediate the "core" behavioral program of aggression. What are the sensory cues that trigger aggression, and where and how in the brain are they transformed into a behavioral output? What is the relationship of aggression circuits to those mediating opponent social behaviors, such as mating? Do these circuits involve distinct, overlapping or the same populations of neurons? How is competition between these behaviors controlled, at the circuit level? Finally, how is aggression regulated by environmental factors (e.g., social experience with conspecifics), and by genetic influences? Can we identify the neural substrates of "nature vs. nurture" influences on aggressiveness? We are addressing these questions using genetically based approaches to neural circuit mapping and manipulation, in both Drosophila and mice.